In an effort to empower a new generation of farmers, the Smallholder Agriculture Development Project II (SADP II) has launched a youth mentorship initiative that equips young Basotho with the skills, knowledge, and financial support necessary to pursue agriculture as a business.
According to Matching Grants Officer Relebohile Khathibe, the project’s design is rooted in an understanding of the unique challenges young people face in agriculture.
“As SADP, we have realised that the challenges faced by the youth and older people differ with the main challenge facing young people mostly is lack of access to land at all, while older people usually do,” he said.
Khathibe explained that many of the youth SADP works with are recent school graduates, most of whom are unemployed while some are even young or single parents.
“After seeing this, we knew that agriculture could be their rescue. Under this program, we then began teaching them how to survive and make a living through agriculture, however, access to skills alone proved insufficient,” he said.
“After we equipped them with knowledge, another challenge emerged, access to money. The youth need capital to start farming businesses,” he pointed out, noting in response, the SADP stepped in to provide matching grants to help bridge the financial gap.
“We met them halfway with grants to support the businesses they came up with.”
Khathibe indicated that unlike older farmers, who generally understand their markets, youth often have no idea where to begin.
“Many young people start farming thinking commodities have a lot of market potential, but they do so without research, planning, or monitoring. We are trying to stop this by equipping them with all the knowledge they need,” he said.
Khathibe emphasised the importance of thorough business planning, citing before starting a business, one need to ask: Why this business? What is the goal? Will it be profitable? What are the possible risks?”
He illustrated the point with a case, “There’s a young person who told me they started poultry farming with a lot of money, but now they’re making less than they invested. That is the reality if there is no proper planning.”
Market research, he stressed is a critical first step.
“It is a component we press on in our trainings. We try to tell the youth that Market research helps entrepreneurs identify their customers, competitors, and gaps in the market. Without it, one risks making costly mistakes like producing what nobody wants or pricing your product too high compared to the market needs.”
Beyond market research, SADP encourages participants to think about consistent quality and volume.
Khathibe said the ultimate goal of the program is to develop market-oriented farmers.
“We want youth to understand agriculture not just as a livelihood, but as a business.”
The impact of the mentorship programme is already being felt, with Itumeleleng Sello, a 17-year-old participant who dropped out of school in Grade 8, finding new purpose through farming.
“I’m using my mother’s land and its easier because she loves farming but is getting older. She asked me take over and it became a dream come true because I am passionate about agriculture. And since I’m not in school I need to build a life where I don’t have to ask my parents for money hence my participation in the trainings to assist me with seeing my passion as a business,” she said.
Itumeleleng dreams of growing into a full-scale agripreneur. “I want to turn this into a real business that will create jobs and change lives,” she said with determination.
Another youth participant, Teboho Letsie, from Quthing, produces a wide variety of vegetables.
“I have always loved farming because I grew up in a family that farms. My parents have always depended on it to make a living,” she noted,
She indicate, “To get full access to my parents’ land, I just need to show them that I’m serious and passionate about it. I believe that will make it easier for them to hand it over fully.”
She added that agriculture is providing a lifeline to many young people especially from the rural Lesotho.
With the youth mentorship programme, SADP is not only investing in seeds and tools—but in people. “Our aim is to give young people the opportunity to rewrite their stories—through the land, through hard work, and through agriculture,” said Khathibe
